PITTSBURGH - Right-hander Marco Estrada gave the Brewers exactly what they've been lacking lately in a 5-1 win over the Pirates on Monday night at PNC Park."We needed a good start," manager Ron Roenicke said. "We needed him to go deep and for his confidence and for the team, I thought it was huge."The Brewers continued their stranglehold on the Pirates -- upping their record at PNC Park to 24-12 since 2008. Since the start of '07, the Brewers are 72-25 against the Bucs."When we play a game like this, good things are going to happen, "Roenicke said. "A few breaks went our way because we played well."
Estrada (3-2), who was shelled for eight runs in his last outing against the Cardinals in a 10-1 loss on May 5, held the Pirates at bay through his seven innings. He surrendered one run on three hits.The outing pleased Estrada very much."In my mind it was just timing, the timing of everything," Estrada said. "I still made a couple of bad pitches here and there, but the timing of everything was pretty good, and once I got that down, and once I got it going mentally, I knew I can locate a couple of things here and there and it just makes pitching a little easier. Where in the last outing, I had no timing, no consistency. I had it today and obviously it worked."